Reanne Derkson is a woman on a mission to break down beauty ideals and promote, foster, and encourage a self-loving process for all women. Her blog littlefoolbook, which is also a book in the making, transcends all parameters of what a beauty blog has been conditioned to look like. With a large emphasis on self love, Reanne gets to the raw morsels of light that a woman needs when navigating modern standards.

Other than her insanely important and true mission statement, Reanne has her own distinct voice. She has her brand. She has her future plans. She has her hustle. From one woman to another, Reanne is that girl who is doing it right. She stays so true to herself and her light within that relating to her is an effortless task.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Reanne and got her to dish out slices of treasure that make her and her brand so successful. She talks blogging, writing, self love, and the perks of her Love Bomb Bootcamp.

Without further ado, the radiating and empowering lady behind littlefoolbook, Reanne Derkson.

Hi!! My name is Reanne — but most of my family and friends call me Ree — and I am the author of littlefoolbook (the blog and the forthcoming book). I’m a formally trained writer, meaning that I majored in Creative Writing and my parents were very concerned.

Luckily, I’m also formally trained in growing up GIRL in a society and culture that is totally obsessed with beauty (and mostly, an unrealistic definition of beauty) — which essentially led to the birth of littlefoolbook, first as an idea for a book, then a blog, and now a growing online community of radical women who want to feel good about themselves.

How did you start littlefoolbook? What was the beginning process like?

My road to blogging was a little bit convoluted. Initially, I started littlefoolbookbecause I was writing a book, and I knew that in mainstream publishing today, if you’re writing nonfiction you’re almost always expected to have a “platform.”

I figured my blog would be my platform, so I put up a splash page that I thought looked really cool at the time, and wrote a blog post like once a month? I was so busy writing littlefoolbook the book that I almost never had time to contribute to the “blog.” So, there it sat lonely as could be with my mom and grandma my biggest fans (and only two readers).

And then, about 9 months ago, I had an epiphany that littlefoolbook could be so much more than a splash page. It could be what I hope my eventual book will be to women everywhere — a safe place to find truth, camaraderie, and maybe a couple of LOLs. So, I started working like a mad woman (my boyfriend can attest to this). I put in long coffee-fueled hours learning the in’s and out’s of Squarespace, writing content, and using my sub par design skills to create the littlefoolbook you see today.

Since re-launching it last September, I have been dedicated to nurturing it, posting regular truth-telling content, and building this incredible girl-gang of empowered women who know that the numbers on a scale don’t matter, and that the most beautiful thing a woman can be is herself.

You place such an emphasis on self love. How did this topic become one of your main focuses?

When I first got the idea to write littlefoolbook (the book) I had been thinking a lot about beauty: the things we’re willing to do for it, the lengths we’ll go to try to “attain it,” what it means for our generation, and the reality of what it’s like to grow up as a woman in this — often hostile — beauty-obsessed generation.

I realized I had a lot to say on the subject, and a lot of stories to tell (hence, the book), but I also realized, in writing these stories for the book, that perhaps what I had been missing all those years was a fully realized love for myself — for all that I was, for my own unique brand of beauty, for the space I took up in this world. Perhaps I wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths chasing this idea of “beauty” if I had been fully confident in who I was, if I had loved myself more. I realize that’s a lot of self-awareness to ask from a young girl, a teenaged girl, a 20-something girl because it’s not something they really teach in schools, and it’s definitely not something we’re reading in the glossy mags.

But I figured if my stories could serve as an example of the perils of self-loathing and the power of self-love, then maybe I could help a lot of women love themselves a little harder and recognize their own self-worth.

What kind of destination do you want littlefoolbook to be for women?

Littlefoolbook, first and foremost, is a safe place for baes to hang. Anytime I write an article or work on a project for littlefoolbook, I imagine girls and women from all walks of life, and I think about what they might need to hear or be reminded of at that moment. I ask myself what I might need to hear and be reminded of. And then I try to write that. I like to picture my readers cozying up with a warm cup of coffee (or tea, or wine, or whatever) and reading through the different posts on littlefoolbook and engaging with the content and perhaps being reminded of their own insane beauty, or the fact that they are strong, independent women capable of achieving their greatest desires, or being inspired to take a little better care of themselves.

I wrote littlefoolbook (the forthcoming book) because I often felt alone in my aching, alone in my yearning (to be something I was not) and generally alone in the female condition—despite that I was one of half the world’s gender, despite being raised by a strong and supportive mother with a line of strong and supportive females in my family, and despite being surrounded by a clan of female peers, who all also likely felt alone through the same pressures and perils of growing up female in the 21st century.

Success stories such as powerhouse female, Lena Dunham, give me hope that the modern woman can overcome the pressures of our beauty-obsessed culture and define a new norm, but this is a book and a blog for the woman who will likely never write a critically-acclaimed HBO series or walk a red carpet, and for the woman whose greatest success is being at home with herself, written by a woman whose greatest success is learning to be at home with herself; learning to love herself and learning to feel beautiful despite a society that is constantly telling her she needs to be thinner, or taller or blonder.

Littlefoolbook (the book and the blog) is the companion I wished I’d had growing up. It’s a confessional of sorts, but also a manual for the other modern young women like me who shouldn’t have to feel alone. Because we’re all female, and we’re in this together and sometimes the greatest happily-ever-after comes from falling in love with yourself, first.

What is your Love Bomb Bootcamp? What can women expect when they sign up?

Love Bomb Bootcamp is a 30-day crash-course Bootcamp for the heart, mind, and soul. I teamed up with the #girlboss alchemists and nutritionistas of Urban Alchemy to create a transformative online program devoted to helping women all over the world fall head over heels — madly, truly, deeply — in love with themselves.When someone signs up for Love Bomb Bootcamp, they will immediately receive an #LBB Welcome Packet detailing everything they need to know to make the most out of our 30 days together, plus a 55+ page interactive #LBB Companion Workbook to help guide them through the Bootcamp. They’ll also gain exclusive access to our Member’s Only Community.

The Bootcamp kicks off on the first Monday of every month and runs for 30 straight days. So, when Love Bomb Bootcamp is in session, every morning for 30 days, participants will receive a #LoveBomb in their email inbox.

Each #LoveBomb Includes:

An insightful message leading bootcampers towards a life of self-love.

An easy-to-do self-love challenge to push bootcampers out of their comfort zone and guide them towards their inner truth.

The end goal of Love Bomb Bootcamp is self-love, self-acceptance, and self-celebration. And we happen to think that’s pretty freaking amazing.

What is something people might not know about you or littlefoolbook?

I think a lot of people who come across littlefoolbook discover the blog and often don’t realize that the blog and the online community is a companion to the book I’m writing — currently of the same title. It’s essentially a collection of personal essays, lists, and learnings about growing up GIRL. In the pages of littlefoolbook, I spill all my deepest secrets, attempt to make light of the darkness, and come to terms with a rather troublesome addiction to catcalls.

People also often ask me, “what’s up with the name?” or “where did ‘littlefoolbook’ come from?”, which is a fun question for me to answer. The fictional Daisy Buchanan from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby” once said that the best thing a girl can be in this world is a “beautiful little fool.” Well. I have been that little fool, and now I’m on a quest to disprove Daisy’s theory. I created littlefoolbook for the little girls like me, for the teenaged girls like me, for the adult women like me who believe that being a woman is about so much more than being beautiful in a commercial sense.

Any future plans for littlefoolbook?

My big goal for the future of littlefoolbook is to get the book published and into my readers’ hands, ASAP. I’m working hard right now to polish my manuscript and am currently seeking a literary agent who is as excited about littlefoolbook as I am, so that I can get it out into the world.

I also want to continue cultivating this incredible online community of empowered women. I love engaging with my readers and followers, and I have connected with so many amazing women through my social media platforms and blog. Eventually, I’d love to run courses, workshops, and retreats where I can bring together all of these beautiful people, IRL.

If you could give any advice to a woman starting her own blog or site, what would it be?

In everything you do — whether it’s starting your own blog or website, or something else entirely — approach the project with an attitude of self-love. That means, believe in yourself when no one else does (often times people won’t understand what you’re trying to do until you’ve done it), trust yourself enough to follow-through on your passion, and show up confidently to do the work.

My second piece of advice is to stick with it. It’s not going to happen all at once. You may launch and have two visitors your first month, like I did. And that’s OKAY. Stick with it, keep showing up, stay inspired, and things will inevitably start to happen.

What is the most important thing you have learned since starting littlefoolbook?

That my opinions matter. All throughout my writing career, I’ve always felt that I had a lot to say, but that perhaps what I had to say wasn’t as important, or wasn’t as thought out, or wouldn’t add value compared to what others were saying. For far too long, I hushed my voice because I assumed “better” writers were saying “better” things.

When I finally got honest with myself and stopped writing what I thought my audience wanted to hear and started writing what I actually felt and believed to be true in my heart — well, that’s when people started responding to my work.

Scout is the curator and Editor-in-Chief of REVUE by scout. When not fostering REVUE, you can catch Scout reading, writing, out for lunch with friends, or cuddling on the couch with her fiancé and puppy Lola. Scout comes from both the digital and print publishing worlds with experience that ranges from operational to creative. Experience her aesthetic world with REVUE.